A recent (1998) study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) measuring the long-term effectiveness of center high mounted stop lamps in passenger cars and light trucks found that these lights each year prevent thousands of motor vehicle crashes and injuries and more than a half billion dollars in property damage costs. “Safety is President Clinton's highest transportation priority, and the center high-mounted stop lamp is an excellent example of a device that provides significant safety benefits at a fraction of its cost to consumers,” said Ricardo Martinez, M.D., NHTSA administrator.
The study concluded that the center brake lights prevent 92,000 to 137,000 police-reported crashes, 58,000 to 70,000 nonfatal injuries, and $655 million in property damage a year. It also estimated that the lamps save $3.18 in property damage alone for every dollar that they cost.
The safety risks associated with riding a motorcycle are higher than those driving an automobile. There are several reasons for this. First, motorcycles are smaller than automobiles, and other motorists often have a hard time seeing motorcycles on the roads. Further, motorcycles are generally capable of higher rates of acceleration than automobiles causing other motorists to often lose track of the position of a nearby motorcycle. Also, motorcycles are generally capable of higher rates of de-acceleration than automobiles, causing motorcycles to often be hit from behind by motorists that are unable to stop in time. Finally, motorcycles lack the weight, protective structure and other safety devices (such as airbags) that are offered in automobiles. These findings are supported by the Hurt report conducted in 1981 through The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the University of Southern California (USC).
The Hurt Report showed that approximately 75% of all motorcycle accidents involve a collision with another vehicle, and rear-end collisions are a significant risk. Among their findings it was shown that “The failure of motorists to detect and recognize motorcycles in traffic is the predominating cause of motorcycle accidents. The driver of the other vehicle involved in collision with the motorcycle did not see the motorcycle before the collision, or did not see the motorcycle until too late to avoid the collision”. It was also noted that “Conspicuity of the motorcycle is a critical factor in the multiple vehicle accidents, and accident involvement is significantly reduced by the use of motorcycle headlamps (on in daylight) and the wearing of high visibility yellow, orange or bright red jackets.” In addition, United States government research on automotive tail light positioning has found that significantly fewer accidents occur in vehicles having a brake light positioned at or near the highest point on the rear of the vehicle. In 1986, the U.S. government mandated that automobiles sold in the United States be equipped with a third brake light positioned near the highest point on the rear of the vehicle. All new light trucks were required to meet the same standards in 1994. To date, there is no requirement for motorcycles, trailers and certain commercial vehicles to have a similar light.
A typical tail light assembly for a motorcycle includes a running light, a brake light, turn indicators and hazard indicators. For most motorcycles, the running light is always lit when the ignition circuit is energized. In a few motorcycles, the running light is only energized when the headlight is manually turned on by the rider. Typically the taillight is mounted at the rear of the motorcycle above the rear fender. Depending on the size and style of the motorcycle, the taillight is often small, relatively low to the ground and hard to see by other motorists.
Several additional safety concerns must be considered when contemplating the installation of a lighting system on a helmet. First, a wireless link between the helmet and the motorcycle is preferred over a wired system to prevent a variety of possible wire related injuries that could cause or occur during an accident. Second, safe voltages and lamp temperatures should be used to avoid exposing the rider to these hazards in the event that an accident exposes the rider to a live circuit or lamp.
In a wireless system, a power source such as a battery must generally be attached to the helmet. For the helmet assembly, a small battery is beneficial for several reasons. Namely it is smaller and more comfortable to wear than a large battery. To effectively use the power of a smaller battery, the power draw of the magnetic-coupling should be minimized to lengthen battery life and reduce the need for battery recharge or replacement. At the same time, for a helmet lighting system to be effective, a high minimum lamp illumination intensity must be provided to allow nearby motorists to see the lamp signal, even in bright sunlight. Consequently, there is a need to produce a high intensity helmet lighting system that is energy efficient. Prior art helmet lighting systems have generally used lamps that are of lower than desirable intensity, since such systems are not able to provide enough power to operate higher intensity lamps for sustained periods with available on-board power sources.
In a battery operated system where the light is not in the operator's field of vision, it is not always possible to tell if the light is working. It is the intent of one embodiment of the system of the instant invention to provide a means of signaling to the user that the system is functioning correctly and has adequate battery strength by generating an audible tone when the light unit receives a coded signal from the transmitter when it is activated after a period of inactivity. In addition, if the battery strength drops below a specified level, a single LED will flash rapidly or stay illuminated until the batteries are changed.
Since one embodiment of the unit may be utilized in harsh conditions, it has been designed with simplicity and ruggedness in mind. There are no moving parts, the system is designed to handle shock and vibration and resistance to moisture. The case has been designed to seal with an O-ring seal and has no case penetration or need for any switches or wires. Additionally, this embodiment of the device features a sensory circuit that will automatically turn the unit on (i.e. “awaken” the unit from a low-energy consumption “sleep” mode) when it is used, preventing human error such as failure to turn the unit on.
The H-field backscatter signal generator used in one embodiment of the invention is a superior design over other wireless links such as infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) that are more susceptible to interference and disruption.
To increase the visibility in other applications such as bicycle, off road use and racing, a user selectable option will allow for an initial rapid flash to alert others to a braking condition.
Heretofore, a number of patents and publications have disclosed remotely controlled vehicular safety lights, the relevant portions of which may be briefly summarized as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,168, “Helmet Mounted brake light,” of Whiting discloses a lighting system that uses radio frequency communication. The system of Whiting is relatively high in power consumption, is prone to interference, and has no provision for a single helmet to communicate with several transmitters.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,209, “Remote controlled safety light having increased noise discrimination,” of Benson et al. discloses a simple radio frequency controlled “on” mechanism that turns on a helmet light for a predetermined amount of time once a brake signal is received. There is no intelligence provided in that the brake light therein stays on only as long as such “predetermined amount of time” allows.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,099, “Motorcycle safety helmet,” of Harris discloses a lighting system using a beam of light or a sonic beam to operate a remote brake light including light transmission to include an optic fiber. These methods of activation are inherently prone to interference from stray light sources, such as infrared light emanating from heated surfaces, which are common in heavy vehicle traffic.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,707, “Motorcycle safety helmet system,” of Gebelein et al. discloses an Infrared transmitter/receiver that requires a line of sight between the transmitter and receiver thereof. Such device is also prone to interference from the sun and other light sources
In spite of the provision of these and other lighting devices and systems, an optimum solution to the problem of providing a lighting system that is remotely operated, easily programmed, low in power consumption, highly visible, not susceptible to interference from other communication devices, and is durable in the environment; and provides on-board diagnostics and automated failsafe functionality with visual and audible cues has not been heretofore provided. Prior art devices also use communication means that have relatively high power consumption; hence such devices must use lower power/lower brightness lighting as a tradeoff of sacrifice due to their communication power demands.
In view of the above shortcomings in the prior art devices, embodiments of the present invention are provided that meet at least one or more of the following objects of the present invention.
It is one object of the present invention to provide an energy efficient remote auxiliary vehicle safety lighting device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless system capable of displaying brake lights, running lights, turn indicators, hazard lights, and emergency lights.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a lighting system having an H-field backscatter generator capable of broadcasting a unique code set, thereby preventing interference between vehicles when two or more system equipped vehicles are in close proximity.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a lighting system having an H-field backscatter generator capable of broadcasting more than one code set, thereby allowing several magnetic-couplings to be used independently with one H-field backscatter generator.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lighting system that is safe, easy to use and comparatively cost effective.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lighting system that does not sacrifice the brightness of the lighting thereof because of high power consumption by communication circuitry.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a lighting system that is flexible in use, enabling combinations of multiple transmitters and multiple receivers to communicate, and enabling the system to be deployed on a variety of vehicles and objects to be illuminated.